What level are you?

[Jack Orion]

everybody's being so modest; I thought we Brits were the kings of that!

I'd say I'm pretty good - if a room was suddenly filled with a good cross section of guitar players I think I'd be in the top 50%. Maybe in the low 50's but better than the 'average' player.

I've seen guys who are technically awful play some great music with great guitar, and vice-versa, so I wouldn't get hung up on levels - it's mainly folks like us that notice if someone is playing well, and even then it seems most of us prefer a good entertainer/songwriter to a technical wizard...

I mean, what level is Dylan?

[Hendra]

Originally Posted by JoeNewbie

Now, I might change my mind if that is the only tune that you can play...

That's what I thought too. Cmon mmaak, over 5700 Agf post but just 1 YouTube video? )You're killing me.

[mmmaak]

Originally Posted by Hendra

That's what I thought too. Cmon mmaak, over 5700 Agf post but just 1 YouTube video? )You're killing me.

(5300, actually)

Well, I don't have a videocam (that only video was made using one borrowed from a student), so it's a bit of a pain having to record audio and video separately using a digital camera + H2. But the main reason is that I almost never stick to a song long enough to learn it in full. There's always something cooler and more challenging that catches my attention. My "repertoire" is a fragmented mess of unfinished tunes

Shameful, I know.......

[Ells84]

I'd say that on a bad day I'm terrible, and on a good day....I'm still terrible!!

[ocmcook]

in my own mind in my own room i play good any where else i seem to have two left hands and ten thumbs.

[jmcphail]

My musical sensibility is more advanced than my ability to actually play. Better than bad, worse than above-average.

[rockinrebel]

maybe, advanced beginner or lower intermediate ?

[MisterZeus]

Rank beginner.
My third lesson will be Monday.
Been dabbling on my own since last November.

[TBman]

My stuff is on my webpages below. I think I range from boring to mediocre, LOL.

[Allman_Fan]

My guitar level is 6B-17a.4.
My favorite color is Azure.
My favorite number is pi.

My amp goes to 11.

[ADDNME]

Im going with that. Its like all those people who say there smart. Well if you say your smart then there is no incentive to learn or be smarter. So saying your smart is actually stupid. So you could say Im with stupid! Isn't it about haveing fun and making others have fun too anyway?

[Fingerstylist]

I've been playing for over a year now and still feel very much like a beginner. I'm trying to take the self-taught path but I'm starting to think that may not be the way to go. I'm a wannabe fingerstylist who knows quite a few tunes but can only play a few of them very well.

[Mr Fixit eh]

The O/P asks

Hello everyone,I thought I would open up the word " level ",I hear this so many times to refence one's playing ability.
You hear all the time about the Schooled player or the street player and even the so called Prodigy.
In the world of Guitar slingers how do you catagoritize and why?

Assigning 'levels' is not good in the sense of implying one player is better than another, but labels are helpful in communicating technical ability. For example on a forum like this one when you are trying to describe your ability level.

Newbie - rank beginner. Unable to play at performance speed. Unable to make chord changes smoothly at tempo. Unable to play barre chords. Difficulty with getting clean sounding open chords some of the time. Limited knowledge of open chord shapes. Almost no repertoire that can be played competently - memorized or not.

Intermediate beginner. Able to play at performance speed, but often struggling with strumming/ picking patterns. Often has trouble with timing/ tempo problems. Thorough knowledge of most common open chords including common slash chords, power chords, barre chords and can perform these chords fairly fluently with smooth transitions at performance tempo. Can execute relliably common barre chords up/down the full neck. Small repertoire of songs that can be performed well. Able to jam with other musicians with coaching.

Advanced beginner. Able to play at performance speed without struggling with strumming/ picking patterns. Minimal problems with timing/ tempo problems. Sound knowledge of all chords including less common barre chords, and some of the more common exotic chords (Jazz/ Blues, etc). Able to perform in limited public venues, like busking or nursing homes - but needs work at performance skills. Has recorded himself/herself and analysed to determine how to improve. Has begun to experiment with other techniques - eg. strummer begins to learn fingerstyle, or flatpicking. Begins to experiment with alternate genres of music (jazz, blues, classical, country, rock). Able to jam effectively with musicians and improvise to some extent. Large repertoire of music that can be performed - possibly some memorized.

Proficient. Able to figure out and play most anything that comes along. Performs for others and is enjoyed by other-than-his/her-mother. Comfortable with multiple alternate music genres. Comfortable with multiple techniques. Able to jam effectively and improvise well. Very large repertoire of music that can be performed well - probably enough songs memorized to perform a small set. Regularly performs for non-captive audiences and receives good feedback and/or some cash.



Professional. All the above, but able to earn enough money to pay most of the bills


Master. Mastery of most all musical genres and techniques. Sounds amazing. Technically amazing.

Ok - so it's not perfect. But something like this would make for a fairly meaningful comparison of musical journeys between players.

STEve

Oh - and I'd be starting to move from intermediate beginner to advanced beginner based on these descriptions

[SMan]

I've progressed to the "People no longer run from the room" level.

[Acoustic Rick]

Honestly speaking concerning my ability or lack thereof, I'm better than average I'd say. Probably on the lower side of semi decent.